AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 



OF THE 



NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE 

SONS OF THE 

AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



PROPOSED I'.V I II I 



COMMITTEE ON REVISION OF THE 
CONSTITUTION, 



APPOINTED IN PURSUANCE OF III! 
RESOLUTION OF THE ANNUAL CON- 
GRESS OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY. 
APRIL 3 oth, 1892. 



March 2 1 



3*~ 




***** 
JUN 18 1914 



To the Congress of the National Society of 
the Sons of the American Revolution : 

The Committee on Revision of the Constitu- 
tion, appointed in pursuance of the resolution of 
the Annual Congress of April 30, 1892, submit the 
following draft of a revised Constitution, and 
propose that the amendments indicated therein 
shall be adopted at the next meeting of the 
Congress. 

Very respectfully, 

HORACE PORTER, 

President- General. 
HENRY HALL, 

A. W. GREELY, U. S.A., 

GEO. BROWN GOODE, Ph.D., 

JOHN WHITEHEAD, 

JAMES C. CRESAP, U. S. N., 



CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY 

OF THE 

SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



[New readings and additions are indicated by italics. The words and 
sentences, which it is proposed to drop out entirely, are enclosed in brackets. | 



ARTICLE I. 

NAME. 

The Name of this Society shall be "The Sons of the 
American Revolution." 



ARTICLE II. 

OBJECTS. 

[The objects of this Society are, to perpetuate the 
memory and the spirit of the men who achieved American 
Independence, by the encouragement of historical research 
in relation to the Revolution and the publication of its 
results, the preservation of documents and relics, and of the 
records of the individual services of Revolutionary soldiers 
and patriots, and the promotion of celebrations of all 
patriotic anniversaries; to carry out the injunction of 
Washington in his farewell address to the American people, 



"to promote, as an object of primary importance, institu- 
tions for the general diffusion of knowledge," thus develop- 
ing an enlightened public opinion, and affording to young 
and old such advantages as shall develop in them the largest 
capacity for performing the duties of American citizens ; to 
cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American 
freedom ; to foster true patriotism and love of country ; 
and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of 
liberty.] 

The objects of this Society shall be to unite and promote 
fellowship among the descendants, and perpetuate the memory, 
of the men, who, by their services or sacrifices during the 
War of the American Revolution, achieved the IndcpauL 
of the A mericau people ; to inspire among the members of the 
Society and the community at large a more profound reverence 
for the principles of the government founded by our forefathers ; 
to encourage historical research in relation to the American 
Revolution ; to acquire and preserve the records of the indi- 
vidual services of Revolutionary patriots, and documents, relics 
and landmarks connected with the War ; to mark the scenes of 
the Revolution by appropriate memorials ; to celebrate the 
anniversaries of the prominent events of the War ; to maintain 
and extend the institutions of American freedom ; and to 
carry out the injunctions of Washington in his farewell 
address to the American /< 

ARTICLE III. 
MEMBERSHIP. 

[Section I. — Any man is eligible for membership, who 
is of the age of twenty-one years, and who is descended 
from an ancestor who, with unfailing loyalty, rendered ma- 
terial aid to the cause of American Independence, as a 
soldier or as a seaman, or a civil officer in one of the several 
Colonies or States, or of the United Colonies or States, or 
as a recognized patriot; provided that he shall be found 
worthy.] 

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Section I . — Any man shall be eligible to membership in 
I his Society, who, being of the age of 21 years or over, and a 
citizen of good repute in the community, is the lineal descendant 
of an ancestor, who, while at all times unfailing in his loyalty, 
rendered actual service in the cause of American Independence, 
cither as an officer, soldier, seaman, marine, militiaman or 
minute man, in the armed forces of the Continental Congress 
or of any one of the several Colonies or States ; or as a Signer 
of the Declaration of Independence ; or as a member of a 
Committee of Safety or Correspondence ; or as a member of 
any Continental, Provincial, or Colonial Congress or Legisla- 
ture ; or as a civil officer, either of one of the Colonies or 
States or of the national government ; or as a recognized 
patriot, who performed actual service by overt acts of rebel- 
lion against the authority of Great Britain. 

Section 2. — For the purpose of making more nearly 
perfect the records of our Revolutionary ancestors and 
their descendants, any woman of Revolutionary ancestry 
may file a record of her ancestor's services and of her line 
of descent with any Registrar, who shall send a duplicate 
to the Registrar General. 

SECTION 3. — Any person is eligible to honorary mem- 
bership, subject to the limitations as to age and descent, 
established in the case of active members. 

[Section 4. — The National Society shall embrace all 
the members of the Societies of the Sons of the Amer- 
ican REVOLUTION now existing, or which may be estab- 
lished under this Constitution. Such Societies shall regulate 
all matters relating to their own affairs, shall judge of the 
qualifications of their members, and of those proposed 
for membership, subject to the provisions of this Con- 
stitution.] 

ARTICLE IV. 

NA TIONAL AND STA TE SOCIE TIES. 
Section i. — The National Society shall embrace all 
the members of the Societies of the Sons of the American 

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REVOLUTION, now existing or which may hereafter be estab- 
lished wider this Constitution. 

Section 2. — Whenever in any State or Territory, in 
which a State Society does not exist, fifteen or more persons, 
duly qualified for membership in this Society, shall associate 
themselves as a State Society of the Sons OF THE American 
REVOLUTION, and shall organize in accordance with this 
Constitution, they may be admitted by the General Board of 

Managers to the National Society as " The 

Society of the SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION," 
and shall thereafter have exclusive local jurisdiction in the 
State or Territory or in the District in which they are 
organized. 

Section 3. — Each State Society shall judge of the 
qualifications of its members and of those proposed for mem- 
bership, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, and 
shall regulate all matters pertaining to its own affairs. It 
shall have authority to establish local chapters within its 
own jurisdiction. It shall have authority, after due notice 
and impartial trial, to expel any member, zcho, by conduct 
unbecoming a gentleman and a man of honor, shall render 
himself unworthy to remain a member of the Society. 

SECTION 4. — Each State Society shall submit to the 
Annual Congress of the National Society a report, setting 
forth the membership and progress of the State Society 
during the preceding year, and making such suggestions, as 
it shall deem proper, for the promotion of the objects of the 
whole order. 

SECTION 5. — Whenever a member in good standing in 
this Society, changes his residence from the jurisdiction of 
the State Society of which he is a member, to that of 
another, he shall be entitled to a certificate of honorable 
demission from his oivn State Society, in order that lie may 
be transferred to the State Society to whose jurisdiction 
he has changed his residence. Each State Society shall, 
hozvever, retain full control of the admission of members by 
transfer. 



Section 6. — Wherever the word li State" occurs in 
this Constitution, it shall be held to include within its mean- 
ing the District of Columbia and the Territories of the 
United States. 



ARTICLE V. 

OFFICERS AND MANAGERS. 

SECTION i. — The General Officers of the National 
Society shall be a President General, [three Honorary Vice 
Presidents General], five Vice Presidents General, a Secre- 
tary General, Treasurer General, Registrar General, Histor- 
ian General, [Surgeon General], and Chaplain General, who 
shall be elected by ballot by a vote of the majority of the 
members present at the annual meeting of the Congress of 
the National Society and shall hold office for one year and 
until their successors shall be elected, [and who together 
with the Presidents of the State Societies, ex-officio, shall 
constitute a general Board of Managers, of which Board 
seven shall constitute a quorum.] 

Section 2. — The General Officers, together with the 
Presidents of the State Societies ex-officio, shall constitute 
the General Board of Managers, of which Board seven 
shall constitute a quorum. 

Section J. — An Executive Committee of seven, of 
whom the President General shall be the Chairman, may be 
elected by the Board of Managers from its own members, 
which Committee shall, in the interim between the meetings 
of the Board, transact such business as shall be delegated 
to it by the Board of Managers. 



ARTICLE VI. 

DUES. 

Each State Society shall pay annually to the Treasurer 
General to defray the expenses of the National Society twenty- 



five cents for each active member thereof. All such dues 
shall be paid on or before [the opening of each annual 
meeting of the National Society, in order to secure repre- 
sentation therein] the first day of April in each year, for the 
ensuing year, in order to secure representation in the Congress 
of the National Society . 



ARTICLE VII. 

MEETINGS AND ELECTIONS. 

Section i. — The annual [meeting] Congress of tin- 
National Society for the election of the General Officers and 
for the transaction of business, shall be held on the 30th 
day of April, or on the first day of May in every year. 
The time and place of such meeting shall be designated by 
the Board of Managers. 

Section 2. — Special meetings of the Congress [shall] 
may be called by the President General, and shall be called 
by him when directed so to do by the Board of Managers, 
or whenever requested in writing so to do by [twenty-five 
or more members representing] at least five State Socie- 
ties, on giving thirty days' notice specifying the time and 
place of such meeting and the business to be transacted. 

Section 3. — The following shall be members of all 
such [general] annual or special meetings, and shall be 
entitled to vote therein : 

(1). All the officers, the ex- Presidents General and the 
ex-Vice Presidents General of the National Society ; 

(2). The President and Senior Vice President of each 
State Society. 

(3). One delegate at large from each State Society ; 

(4). One delegate for every one hundred members of 
the Society within a State and for a fraction of fifty or 
over. 



|The following named officials shall be Honorary Mem- 
bers of the National Society, provided they are eligible to 
membership in the Society, but shall not be entitled to 
vote : 

(i). The President, the Vice-President, and the Chief 
Justice of the United States; 

(2). The President of the Senate, the Speaker of the 
House, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the 
Navy, of the United States; 

(3). The Governors of the States and Territories of the 
United States; 

AND ALSO the Senior officer of the Army, and the 
Senior officer of the Navy of the United States.] 



ARTICLE VIII. 

BY-LAWS. 

The Board of Managers shall have authority to adopt 
and promulgate the By-Laws of the National Society, to 
prescribe the duties of the general officers, to provide the 
seal, and to designate the insignia. 



ARTICLE IX. 

AMENDMENTS. 

[Amendments to this Constitution may be offered at 
any meeting of the National Society, but shall not be acted 
on until the next meeting. A copy of every proposed 
amendment shall be sent to each member, with a notice of 
the meeting at which the same will be acted upon, at least 
thirty days prior to said meeting.] 

This Constitution may be altered or amended at any 
meeting of the Congress of the National Society, provided 

10 



tJiat thirty days notice in writing of the proposed altera- 
tions or amendments shall be sent to the President of each 
State Society. 

A vote of two thirds of those present shall be necessary 
to its adoption. 




II 



